Gators Find Scoring Punch, Misplace Defense In 7-point Loss

Florida Has Six Players Score In Double Figures In Loss To Athletes In Action.

November 18, 1993|By Mike Dame of The Sentinel Staff

GAINESVILLE — Florida's search for offensive weapons to make up for the loss of Stacey Poole didn't appear as desperate Wednesday as expected - it cracked the century mark in an exhibition against Athletes in Action.

In the process, however, the Gators forgot how to play defense and lost, 108-101, before 4,221 at the O'Connell Center.

Defense has been the cornerstone of coach Lon Kruger's teams at Florida, so naturally, he was very concerned after the game.

''If you give points up quickly you get the ball back more quickly, and there's a chance to score more,'' Kruger said. ''We got a lot of possessions because we didn't make them handle it very long.''

Florida, whose scoring high last season was 94 points against Mississippi, led AIA by 11 on six occasions - the last time at 70-59 with 13:54 remaining. The tired Gators could not pull away.

After taking an 85-76 lead with 8:32 to play, the Gators did not make a field goal for the next 6:12. AIA (7-1) went on a 22-2 run for a 98-87 lead with 3:00 remaining and maintained at least a seven-point cushion the rest of the way.

AIA's Rod Foster made six consecutive free throws to close the victory.

''Their quickness obviously bothered us very much,'' Kruger said. ''We had a lot of trouble staying between them and the bucket. I thought that showed more and more as the game went along. We've got a lot of work to do in that area.''

On the positive side, six Gators scored in double figures, led by senior guard Craig Brown, who had 20 of his 22 points in the second half.

Junior-college transfer Tony Mickens - who started in place of Martti Kuisma, who is playing with the Finland National Team in a European Championships qualifying tournament - scored 21 and was 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

Junior power forward Andrew DeClercq had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore forward Jason Anderson came off the bench to score 17.

The Gators were without sophomore forward Brian Thompson, who has been suspended indefinitely for academic reasons.